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Indianapolis Peace & Justice Center Journal, v. 25, no. 05, 2007-05

page1

Cckbtating Our Twmty-fifth fear
^mrtmmmi^mm^^m
Indianapolis Peace and Justice
Journal
Volume XXV Numbers • May 2007
UN Climate Change Impact Report:
Poor Will Suffer Most
BRUSSELS, Belgium, April 6,
2007 (ENS) - The impacts of
future climate change will be
mixed across regions of the
world, with more than a billion
people at risk of increased water
stress and hundreds of millions
at risk of sea-level rise, but there
will be higher crop yields in some
areas, finds a new global
scientific assessment released
today.
Yet the report finds it "very
likely" that all regions will
experience either declines in net
benefits or increases in net costs
for temperature rises greater
than about 2 to 3 degrees C (3.6
to 5.4 degrees F.)
More than 2,500 scientific
expert reviewers from around the
world spent six years working on
the assessment issued today by
Working Group II of the
Intergovermental Panel on
Climate Change, IPCC. The
report, "Impacts, Adaptation and
Vulnerability," was adopted this
week in a line-by-line review by
the governments of 131
countries.
"It is the poorest of the poor
in the world, and this includes
poor people even in prosperous
societies, who are going to be
the worst hit," IPCC Chairman
Rajendra Pachauri told
journalists at the release of the
report's summary for
policymakers in Brussels. "This
does become a global
responsibility in my view," he
said.
The assessment details
current scientific understanding
of the impacts of climate change
on natural, managed and human
systems, the capacity of these
systems to adapt and their
vulnerability.
The resilience of many
ecosystems is likely to be
exceeded this century by an
unprecedented combination of
climate change; associated
disturbances such as flooding,
drought, wildfire, insects, and
ocean acidification; and other
global change drivers such as
land use change, pollution, and
over-exploitation of resources,
the report finds.
About 20 to 30 percent of
plant and animal species
assessed so far are likely to be
at increased risk of extinction if
increases in global average
temperature exceed 1.5 to 2.5
degrees C (2.7 to 4.5 degrees
F), the report finds.
The mountainous areas of
Europe will face much greater
species losses, "in some areas
up to 60 percent under high
emission scenarios by 2080."
The report builds on past
IPCC assessments including, the
Working Group I report released
in February that confirmed with
100 percent confidence that
global warming is occurring and
with 90 percent confidence that it
is due to human activities.
The IPCC was established
in 1988 by the World
Meteorological Organization and
the UN Environment Programme
and is open to all their member
countries.
The IPCC does not
Bangladesh - Holding a vessel for potable water, women swim through
contaminated flood water in the low-lying Asian country of Bangladesh.
(Photo courtesy Greenpeace UK)
conduct research on its own but
reviews and assesses the most
recent scientific, technical and
socio-economic information on
climate change. The statements
presented in this assessment are
based on data sets that cover
the period since 1970.
"For the first time, we are
no longer arm-waving with
models - this is empirical data,
we can actually measure it,"
Martin Parry, co-chairman of
IPCC Working Group II, told
reporters in Brussels today.
Improved climate models
and expanded observations,
data and information have
enabled the IPCC to increase
the level of confidence in the
attribution of warming to human-
induced increases in greenhouse
gas concentrations, the report
says, but it is also frank about
limitations and gaps in
information.
Continued on page four
(Ifie VJar Qoes On
Deaths in Iraq
Military Fatalities - United States 3312
United Kingdom 142, from 16 other countries 124
Total for War - — 3578
All figures thru 4/17/07 by icasualties.org
U.S. Military Wounded 24,314
As of 3/24/07
The United Nations reports 34,452 civilian deaths in 2006.
Indianapolis Peace & Justice Center
609 East 29th Street
Indianapolis. Indiana 46205
Nonprofit Or y
U. S Postage
PAID
Permit No 6315
Indianapolis, IN

Cckbtating Our Twmty-fifth fear
^mrtmmmi^mm^^m
Indianapolis Peace and Justice
Journal
Volume XXV Numbers • May 2007
UN Climate Change Impact Report:
Poor Will Suffer Most
BRUSSELS, Belgium, April 6,
2007 (ENS) - The impacts of
future climate change will be
mixed across regions of the
world, with more than a billion
people at risk of increased water
stress and hundreds of millions
at risk of sea-level rise, but there
will be higher crop yields in some
areas, finds a new global
scientific assessment released
today.
Yet the report finds it "very
likely" that all regions will
experience either declines in net
benefits or increases in net costs
for temperature rises greater
than about 2 to 3 degrees C (3.6
to 5.4 degrees F.)
More than 2,500 scientific
expert reviewers from around the
world spent six years working on
the assessment issued today by
Working Group II of the
Intergovermental Panel on
Climate Change, IPCC. The
report, "Impacts, Adaptation and
Vulnerability," was adopted this
week in a line-by-line review by
the governments of 131
countries.
"It is the poorest of the poor
in the world, and this includes
poor people even in prosperous
societies, who are going to be
the worst hit," IPCC Chairman
Rajendra Pachauri told
journalists at the release of the
report's summary for
policymakers in Brussels. "This
does become a global
responsibility in my view," he
said.
The assessment details
current scientific understanding
of the impacts of climate change
on natural, managed and human
systems, the capacity of these
systems to adapt and their
vulnerability.
The resilience of many
ecosystems is likely to be
exceeded this century by an
unprecedented combination of
climate change; associated
disturbances such as flooding,
drought, wildfire, insects, and
ocean acidification; and other
global change drivers such as
land use change, pollution, and
over-exploitation of resources,
the report finds.
About 20 to 30 percent of
plant and animal species
assessed so far are likely to be
at increased risk of extinction if
increases in global average
temperature exceed 1.5 to 2.5
degrees C (2.7 to 4.5 degrees
F), the report finds.
The mountainous areas of
Europe will face much greater
species losses, "in some areas
up to 60 percent under high
emission scenarios by 2080."
The report builds on past
IPCC assessments including, the
Working Group I report released
in February that confirmed with
100 percent confidence that
global warming is occurring and
with 90 percent confidence that it
is due to human activities.
The IPCC was established
in 1988 by the World
Meteorological Organization and
the UN Environment Programme
and is open to all their member
countries.
The IPCC does not
Bangladesh - Holding a vessel for potable water, women swim through
contaminated flood water in the low-lying Asian country of Bangladesh.
(Photo courtesy Greenpeace UK)
conduct research on its own but
reviews and assesses the most
recent scientific, technical and
socio-economic information on
climate change. The statements
presented in this assessment are
based on data sets that cover
the period since 1970.
"For the first time, we are
no longer arm-waving with
models - this is empirical data,
we can actually measure it,"
Martin Parry, co-chairman of
IPCC Working Group II, told
reporters in Brussels today.
Improved climate models
and expanded observations,
data and information have
enabled the IPCC to increase
the level of confidence in the
attribution of warming to human-
induced increases in greenhouse
gas concentrations, the report
says, but it is also frank about
limitations and gaps in
information.
Continued on page four
(Ifie VJar Qoes On
Deaths in Iraq
Military Fatalities - United States 3312
United Kingdom 142, from 16 other countries 124
Total for War - — 3578
All figures thru 4/17/07 by icasualties.org
U.S. Military Wounded 24,314
As of 3/24/07
The United Nations reports 34,452 civilian deaths in 2006.
Indianapolis Peace & Justice Center
609 East 29th Street
Indianapolis. Indiana 46205
Nonprofit Or y
U. S Postage
PAID
Permit No 6315
Indianapolis, IN